Re: RIT Tigers 2017 / 2018. Is time to go out and capture some prey!

Originally Posted by LtPowers

The radio guys assert Short isn't getting much help. They played great in front of Drackett -- very few quality looks for Northeastern.

Powers &8^]

Drackett tracked the puck much better than Short has. It's really no contest whatsoever. The 2nd goal was inexcusable, and there was a post hit before Union cracked the scoreboard that had no business getting beyond him either. Even Wilson apparently said to the telecast reporter between the 1st and 2nd periods that Short needs to make those saves. This is the goaltending we got last season. It's clearly not division 1 caliber. What Drackett gave us last weekend absolutely was. Obviously one game is a short sample size and Drackett may not end up being what we need, or this could just be a poor game from an actually improved from last year Short, but the caliber of play from him tonight is not good enough at this level. If Wilson really does want to get from 3 to 2 goalies sooner rather than later, and Andriano is in the mix and puts out a good start tomorrow against RPI, Short may not see the ice again.

Re: RIT Tigers 2017 / 2018. Is time to go out and capture some prey!

Great broadcast, thank you RIT! Your rink looks really nice too!
If RIT can figure out how to keep their foot on the gas for 60 minutes, they'll be a handful. A large part of Union's win was consistency throughout the game.
Good luck for the rest of the season!

Re: RIT Tigers 2017 / 2018. Is time to go out and capture some prey!

Originally Posted by jflory81

Barring injury, this may be Short's last Tiger appearance. He's been behind the play from the opening faceoff. Beat clean on the 1st, a truly horrendous 2nd, and certainly a stoppable 3rd, and a little fortunate it's not worse. Night and day in terms of reading the play and tracking the puck compared to Drackett last weekend. I'm honestly surprised they didn't pull him at the time out.

Originally Posted by LtPowers

The radio guys assert Short isn't getting much help. They played great in front of Drackett -- very few quality looks for Northeastern.

Powers &8^]

Originally Posted by jflory81

Drackett tracked the puck much better than Short has. It's really no contest whatsoever. The 2nd goal was inexcusable, and there was a post hit before Union cracked the scoreboard that had no business getting beyond him either. Even Wilson apparently said to the telecast reporter between the 1st and 2nd periods that Short needs to make those saves. This is the goaltending we got last season. It's clearly not division 1 caliber. What Drackett gave us last weekend absolutely was. Obviously one game is a short sample size and Drackett may not end up being what we need, or this could just be a poor game from an actually improved from last year Short, but the caliber of play from him tonight is not good enough at this level. If Wilson really does want to get from 3 to 2 goalies sooner rather than later, and Andriano is in the mix and puts out a good start tomorrow against RPI, Short may not see the ice again.

Short hasn't been good ever. At best he was a decent backup to stop the bleeding when Rotolo got hurt, but his numbers were bad in 2015 and awful in 2016. None of you could keep a straight face and say that what Short has shown us the last 2 years is even average D1 hockey material. He's always out of position, slow to react, and easily flustered. He's very big, and being very big at a young age will get you a lot of chances and a lot of success in lower levels of hockey. Unfortunately we're seeing that size isn't everything at this level, and the saves that he might have made with size alone in juniors won't cut it against faster, better shots in D1.

The guy is not going to suddenly morph into a good goalie after 21 starts at this level. Nice of coach to let him play in an out of conference game, but he does not deserve another meaningful start.

17 games in 2015: 8-6-3/2.76 GAA /0.889sv%
3 games in 2016: 0-1-0/6.02 GAA/0.763sv%

Short hasn't been good ever. At best he was a decent backup to stop the bleeding when Rotolo got hurt, but his numbers were bad in 2015 and awful in 2016. None of you could keep a straight face and say that what Short has shown us the last 2 years is even average D1 hockey material. He's always out of position, slow to react, and easily flustered. He's very big, and being very big at a young age will get you a lot of chances and a lot of success in lower levels of hockey. Unfortunately we're seeing that size isn't everything at this level, and the saves that he might have made with size alone in juniors won't cut it against faster, better shots in D1.

The guy is not going to suddenly morph into a good goalie after 21 starts at this level. Nice of coach to let him play in an out of conference game, but he does not deserve another meaningful start.

17 games in 2015: 8-6-3/2.76 GAA /0.889sv%
3 games in 2016: 0-1-0/6.02 GAA/0.763sv%

Well that effort was pretty disappointing. Unions record did not reflect how good their team is and I expected Union to play well and win however I did not expect what I saw from RIT. Looking at the ECAC pick'ems I was surprised at how many picked RIT over an 0-5 Union. Obviously people were swayed by RITs performance against NU..

From last year we saw how great goaltending can propel fairly evenly matched teams to the top of the standings, AF, Army,and Canisius benefited from great goaltending and you could see the confidence in those teams increase as the season progressed as they won the majority of their tight low scoring contests.

The opposite is true of bad goaltending, a couple soft ones get by and the defense starts holding their sticks a little tighter. If the AHC teams are really bunched that close like we all like to say it will be the goaltending that carries whomever to the top of the standings.

The good news is these OOC games are where RIT likes to figure these things out. Last night is behind them, a new game tonight against a new opponent. While I'd like to see RIT return the favor from last years loss to RPI in Troy, I'd also like to see a better effort than we saw last night (I have a rooting interest in both schools so I am just hoping for a competitive game from both teams). Everyone loves the new rink and the wonderful broadcasts judging by the posts of fans from other teams so the RIT product on the ice needs to match that commitment. If that means different personnel and mixing and matching so be it. RIT's conference schedule begins next week at Tate Rink in West Point. Coach and staff need to figure it out by then and I'm confident they will.

Re: RIT Tigers 2017 / 2018. Is time to go out and capture some prey!

Originally Posted by blazer777

Not sure who's going to be in goal next weekend.

Lost our best D-man, and we have no goalies....everything we saw this weekend sets RIT up for a long season, certainly not a top half of the standings team...bonus points to RPI for bringing their band and entertaining the GPC faithful, bonus points as well to the RIT band for being good hosts...and finally congrats to our fellow AHC teams that were able to garner points from their OOC foes this weekend...well done.

Re: RIT Tigers 2017 / 2018. Is time to go out and capture some prey!

Originally Posted by Downstate_RIT_Fan

Lost our best D-man, and we have no goalies....everything we saw this weekend sets RIT up for a long season, certainly not a top half of the standings team...bonus points to RPI for bringing their band and entertaining the GPC faithful, bonus points as well to the RIT band for being good hosts...and finally congrats to our fellow AHC teams that were able to garner points from their OOC foes this weekend...well done.

No one will ever accuse me of being an optimist about this team....however; I'm not worried yet. RIT has always been a slow starting team and has always lost the vast majority of it's October OOC games. While we'd all like to change this, at the end of the day the last 3 games are all but irrelevant in reality. No one was expecting us to be in the running for at-large bids.

Goaltending is still a question mark. Drackett has now put together one great start and one terrible start, so who knows which one is more indicative of his ability. The other freshman still hasn't played, other than a few minutes of garbage time tonight. It's still entirely possible our goaltending stabilizes or even becomes a strength. Time will tell. I'd expect the freshman to split starts for awhile until one emerges.

Also, I'm not sure I'd call Brady our top D-man. He's probably our top offense generating D-man, but strictly speaking defensively he's not our best and as long as his brother stays healthy, we still have one of the Norrishs. Chase has been the better brother since their sophomore season, anyway. If one player makes or breaks your team, that's definitely a problem. I don't really think that's true for RIT though, as long as we can keep one of them on the ice and keep the rest of the D intact.

No one will ever accuse me of being an optimist about this team....however; I'm not worried yet. RIT has always been a slow starting team and has always lost the vast majority of it's October OOC games. While we'd all like to change this, at the end of the day the last 3 games are all but irrelevant in reality. No one was expecting us to be in the running for at-large bids.

Goaltending is still a question mark. Drackett has now put together one great start and one terrible start, so who knows which one is more indicative of his ability. The other freshman still hasn't played, other than a few minutes of garbage time tonight. It's still entirely possible our goaltending stabilizes or even becomes a strength. Time will tell. I'd expect the freshman to split starts for awhile until one emerges.

Also, I'm not sure I'd call Brady our top D-man. He's probably our top offense generating D-man, but strictly speaking defensively he's not our best and as long as his brother stays healthy, we still have one of the Norrishs. Chase has been the better brother since their sophomore season, anyway. If one player makes or breaks your team, that's definitely a problem. I don't really think that's true for RIT though, as long as we can keep one of them on the ice and keep the rest of the D intact.

I admire your optimism and looking at this more like a glass half full rather than empty but I am indeed worried. We just didn't get beat, we got blown out of the water on both nights. The gel we were hoping for did not happen this weekend and we still will be looking for it next weekend in West Point.

Re: RIT Tigers 2017 / 2018. Is time to go out and capture some prey!

Nice rink. Not too enthused about the security theatre. I'm shocked y'all didn't trail a back boor skater to the net every single time you had the puck in the zone after the first two goals. Kick some butt in your league; we'll try to do the same, so we end up both looking good in a few months.

Re: RIT Tigers 2017 / 2018. Is time to go out and capture some prey!

That was an extremely discouraging weekend from a goaltending perspective.

EDIT: As to RIT Winters comments re: the Norrish brothers, I thought Chase had a brutal weekend. The lazy cross-checking penalty to create a 5 on 3 on Friday night at 3-1 and the giveaway right out of the gate tonight are plays that simply cannot happen. Especially from your captain. He seems to want the one-timer on the power play way too deep in the corner of the point as well, although that might be a structural aspect of the power play as Abt drifted there a couple of times too. I simply think Brady has been the more steady defenseman, where Chase has been more flashy and more prone to the bone headed play (or penalty).

Looking to go to the RIT games at army next weekend. Anyone have any suggestions on where to sit? Is there a usual section RIT fans sit in?

Thanks in advance!

Downstate goes there all the time. I've been there once, sat at the end opposite the entrance, think the tigers shot at that goal twice. Make sure everybody has ID or you may not get in the gate. They were very thorough and we almost got turned around. Ten years ago but doubt that part had changed.

Re: RIT Tigers 2017 / 2018. Is time to go out and capture some prey!

Originally Posted by blazer777

Downstate goes there all the time. I've been there once, sat at the end opposite the entrance, think the tigers shot at that goal twice. Make sure everybody has ID or you may not get in the gate. They were very thorough and we almost got turned around. Ten years ago but doubt that part had changed.

Yup, I'm a season ticket holder there, so I get to make all my Army friends crazy by wearing my RIT jersey to all of the Army home games no matter who Army is playing. Sometimes I will wear an RPI jersey as well, to pay respects to that great school too, that's usually on a Saturday if RIT loses on a Friday night . I wear my 1960 USA Olympic replica jersey when Royal Military College Paladins from Kingston, Ontario pays West Point a visit.

Everything Blaze and Flaggy said are true. It's getting onto West Point that is difficult. When approaching the gates at West Point you have two lanes, the DoD lane (Department of Defense) and everybody else. DoD folks have a sticker on their windshield. The other lane is the civilian lane, that's the lane for you. Often this lane backs up a bit, don't fret, you will get there and don't be tempted to go to the DoD lane, they will likely send you back into the other lane. All adults in a vehicle must have an ID (drivers license is the way to go) which will be checked. Also depending on what may or may not be going on at West Point that you and I know nothing about (and the type of vehicle you drive) they may ask the driver to exit the vehicle and open the trunk and/or pop the hood for a quick look see. It's totally random, I'm there all the time and I often get asked too. You may also be asked if there are any weapons in the vehicle, so leave them home. As I approach the gate, I turn my head lights off (the guards appreciate that) I open both windows on the side of my car in which the guard is standing, and I turn my overhead light on. Just that act kind of lets the guard know that I've been through the gate before and facilitates him having a look inside my vehicle. Simple as that. Once on West Point obey the speed limit...the MP's love to give tickets to folks zooming through West Point trying to get into their seats before puck drop. Parking at Tate Rink usually involves parking in one of two upper parking lots so be prepared for steps, down on the way to the game, up on the way back to the parking lots. There is some limited handicap parking in front of the rink and there usually is an attendant to assist with that parking if you require that. Every once in a while they check bags going into the game but very rarely, but be cognizant of that. No alcohol in Tate Rink but I've seen folks tailgating and having an adult beverage or two in the parking lot before the game.

As for seating, the lower portion of the rink is seat back seating, the upper portion benches. If possible, try to get seat backs, much more comfortable, equal to GPC and more comfortable than Houston Field House (sorry Flag, the Engineers have to realize we've all gotten bigger and wider since WWII). Generally fans from visiting teams sit behind the visiting players bench. The netting behind the goals comes up to about the face off circles on each end of the ice. So if you can get around the blue line behind the visiting bench in the seat back section, that is your best bet. If you get too close to the goal lines at either end you will be looking through the netting although it is pretty thin stuff so it is not bad. Teams are on the same side, across the ice are the two penalty boxes with the time keeper in between. Between periods generally they have a couple of kids teams on the ice, or a chuck a puck deal going on. Food is fair, your normal burgers, dogs, chicken fingers, popcorn like at other rinks that in recent years is a little pricey but not Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park pricey. Credit Cards accepted.

That's about it. RIT has the largest and loudest fan base to visit Tate Rink, and absolutely rile up the Army fan base which for the most part are more reserved. Nothing is funnier than listening to the RIT fans starting the "RIT" chant before the RIT players step onto the ice between the first and second or second and third periods. Generally Army fans look at each other with a 'hey they can't do that" look on their faces. At that point they start cheering for Army, or you hear young kids screaming "suck" after every "RIT" chant. It makes good fun, but I generally play Switzerland and sit on my hands when RIT visits. I hope this helps a bit, I heard that the RIT Alumni Association is having a get together at Thayer Hotel on West Point prior to the Friday night game, for a nominal cost you get a pre-game meal and a ticket to the game, I'm sure they would have more details if that interests anyone. And Flaggy is right, no one shouts "Tigers" at the end of the anthem, that would NOT be a good idea...I let my freak flag fly when visiting RIT or RPI but just sit back and enjoy a good game of hockey at Tate.